| Cynegils | |
|---|---|
 A portrait of Cynegils at his theatre in a 17th-century Heptarchy map by John Speed | |
| King of Wessex | |
| Reign | c. 611 – c. 642 |
| Predecessor | Ceolwulf |
| Successor | Cenwalh |
| Died | c. 642 |
| Burial | |
| Issue | Cenwalh Kyneburga (Cyneburg)? |
| House | Wessex |
Cynegils (Old English pronunciation: [ˈkynejiɫs]) was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 642. Cynegils is traditionally considered to have been King of Wessex, even though the kingdoms of the Heptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his lifetime.[1] The later kingdom of Wessex was centred on the counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire but the evidence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is that the kingdom of Cynegils was located on the upper River Thames, extending into northern Wiltshire and Somerset, southern Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, and western Berkshire, with Dorchester-on-Thames as one of the major royal sites. This region, probably connected to the early tribal grouping known as the Gewisse, a term used by Bede for the West Saxons, lay on the frontier between the later kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia.[2]
As for several other members of the ruling house of Wessex (including Cerdic, Ceawlin and Caedwalla) a Celtic, rather than Germanic, etymology for Cynegils's name has been suggested, with the literal meaning of 'grey dog'.[3]
- ^ The Kingdom of Kent may have been the exception. S.E. Kelly, "Kent, Kingdom of", in M. Lapidge et al. (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England; D.P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings, p. 30ff.; Ann Williams, Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England, c.500–1066, p. 5ff.; Barbara Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, p. 25ff.
- ^ Kirby, p. 48ff.; Yorke, pp. 135–137; Barbara Yorke, "Gewisse", in M. Lapidge et al.; Barbara Yorke, "Wessex", in M. Lapidge et al., in M. Lapidge et al.
- ^ Roberts, Alice (26 May 2022). Buried: An alternative history of the first millennium in Britain. London: Simon and Schuster. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-3985-1004-3.